Manchester City beat Fulham 2-1

24/09/2009

Manchester City needed a goal from Kolo Toure in extra-time to beat Fulham 2-1 in the Carling Cup last night. After the weekend's defeat to rivals United, City looked desperate to ensure their passage to the next round and ease the pressure on manager Mark Hughes.

Despite fielding nine of the line-up that played in the Manchester derby on Sunday, City went 1-0 down against a makeshift Fulham side. Zoltan Gera scored a brilliant half volley on 34-minutes to silence the large section of away supporters and only the heroics of Shay Given saved Mark Hughes from further embarrassment.

City emerged after the break with a greater sense of purpose and spurred on by the obvious dressing down received from Hughes. Gareth Barry equalized from a Craig Bellamy corner on 52-minutes but it wasn't until the 111th minute that Kolo Toure got his head to a Martin Petrov corner that the potential banana skin was finally avoided.